This is an interesting one that was touched on a little recently when
exploring why RepRap chose FDM and not another 3D printing
technique. What sorts of patents have been granted
against 3D printing techniques, and what sort of patent portfolios do the
various players in the space have kicking around?

Lens is a great tool for exploring the largest body
of open access research in the world, patents. It spans patents from across
the world, and is also starting to cross reference that against publications
in the academic world. So using the lens, I started with a logical place,
looking for patents referencing three of the major 3D printing techniques.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)

Selective laser
sintering is a really
neat technique because it builds up it’s own support material as it goes, it
can print in plastic, metal and glass and has notched up [3343
patents] (http://www.lens.org/lens/search?n=10&q=%22selective+laser+sintering%22&l=en&st=true)
referencing it (at the time of writing).

&npsp;

Some obvious names are lurking in the list of patent applicants, 3D systems
and Zcorp. But what was interesting were the less obvious companies. Boeing
has been applying for selective laser sintering patents since 2000. While
Airbus has been making all sorts of fuss about concept
aircraft, Boeing has been
quietly chipping away in the background, doing all sorts of cool things like
printing lightweight honeycomb
materials.

MIT and the University of Texas are the active U.S. Universities researching
and patenting in the area, with the texans playing around with ceramics, while
MIT has been playing around with printing organic compounds and
pharmaceuticals.

Stereolithography (SLA)

Stereolithography uses resin
that is cured by UV light. Hobbyist stereolithography printers are like the
B9 Creator and the Form1 are
just popping up on the scene. With the guys from Form labs getting sued by 3D
systems for patent infringement. Stereolithography is referenced in 7650
patents.

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) or (FFF)

Fused Deposition Modelling (trademark owned by
Stratasys), or FFF is the 3D printing process that
you find used in most consumer 3D printers, from your custom built RepRap to
your store bought Makerbot. Fused Deposition modelling is referenced in 1884
patents.

As you would expect, Stratasys and 3D systems again show up in the results en
masse. Unfortunately, this search didn’t turn up anything else particularly
interesting, as I guess since Statasys has trademarked the term, and nothing
really exists under the more generic term. I couldn’t find anything that had
expired either, but we do know that Stratasys was first on the scene in 1989.
Which brings us to the next way of slicing and dicing this dataset.

What if we searched by company, rather than technique?

Stratasys

Stratasys features as the applicant in 506 patents, and they have 4 that have
expired including the one around the general Fused
Filament Fabrication, that our search above wasn’t able to find.

The cool thing about all this, and using the lens to dig around all this open
access data. Is that you can browse through literally millions of dollars
worth of research and development. I guess this is exactly why Elon Musk
doesn’t patent anything for spaceX, and I kind of hope more companies take a similar stance in
the future.

Cambia who build the lens is partially funded by NICTA. NICTA is also my current employer for my day time job. The views held in this post and my blog are my own, and are not reflective of any view held by Cambia or NICTA…

Edits:

2014/01/02 - Switched to javascript powered charts.

Hi! Subconsciously you already know this, but let's make it obvious. Hopefully this article was helpful. You might also find yourself following a link to Amazon, Lego or eBay to learn more about parts or equipment. If you end up placing an order, I make a couple of dollarydoos. We aren't talking a rapper lifestyle of supercars and yachts, but it does help pay for the stuff you see here. So a massive shoutout to everyone that enables this place. Thanks!